Yeah, but median at a Top 5 will definitely get BigLaw somewhere, even Vault10 BigLaw with good interviewing skills or at a firm like Kirkland, which loves Chicago grads.

Credited.

80-90% of Chicago's class can get BIGLAW.

Even if OP only works 1-2 years in BIGLAW, the Chicago degree will go so much further than a wustl degree when he leaves.

What about the bottom? They can't?

The further down you go, the more your grades start weighing you down. An unsocial, unconnected white dude at the very bottom of the class probably has issues getting market.

what this means is that we really have no idea. none of us are hiring partners. grades matter, but there are other ways to disqualify yourself and many of those 10-15 percent that this thread hypotheses will not have biglaw as a choice will fall into that category. if you think that you are a friendly, charismatic and/or charming person, then you will probably do well. we think. but you must realize that there are always going to be people in a class who simply don't get along that well with others. they got great grades, and had a high lsat score, and there they are, but they simply don't have the people skills, and there is a good amount of anecdotal evidence that those people suffer from it. there is also good anecdotal evidence that the ability to make friends easily can make up for bad grades to a high degree. you might consider this in your decision of whether to go to law school at all, as being personable and making friends is going to help you more in your career than a degree from yale.

on an unrelated note, there is high anecdotal evidence that I suffer from writing too many very long sentences.